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Destiny Unbound

With the final four now set, I would be remiss to not delve into the notion of deservedness (or lack thereof) for the members of this newly exclusive sorority. Lili Alvarez, Taryn Durham, Sara Brown and Carling Coffing have all taken decidedly different routes to arrive at this destination, but should they all be here? Really the only definitive answer would be that “they are the final four, so it doesn’t really matter.” But that’s no fun. In this TV/entertainment/sports-obsessed world we currently inhabit, every moment of every TV series/celebrity-sighting/free-agent-signing must be up for discussion/debate. So, instead of taking the high road around all this madness, I’ll be departing that increasingly less traveled route and drive directly into that irresistible traffic jam of obsessive analysis.

Let’s begin with Carling Coffing, our first entrant to the final four. One would be hard-pressed to argue that she doesn’t deserve to be playing for a spot in the semifinals. From the outset, she’s proven herself to be one of the most confident/outspoken players in the group and has “played the game” of the Big Break as well as anyone thus far. Of course, playing the “game” means more than just hitting golf shots. Dare I say that nobody has played the psychological angle (purposely or not) more so than Carling? Her treatment of the “Save/Send” card alone is evidence enough. It remains to be seen, though whether her strategy to save Taryn will work out in her favor over the course of the final episodes. Speaking of Taryn, she may be the most controversial participant in the final four.

At face value, Taryn is by far the most undeserving member of this foursome. She made it into the final four by being “saved,” eked her way through a number of Elimination Challenges, and has the least amount of professional experience of the remaining four. However, one thing not readily accounted for with Taryn, especially when taking in her sweet southern demeanor, is her fierce, tenacious nature. Her will to win rivals, if not exceeds any of her fellow competitors. I mean, it takes a special kind of competitor to take a dreaded “snowman” during an Elimination Challenge (which includes a whiff) and come right back, nearly hole out for eagle and in doing so, eliminate Ryann, one of the strongest competitors on the series. (We’ll discuss the whole Ryann-not-in-the-finale debate in a few weeks.)

This leaves us with Sara and Lili rounding out the Big Break pledge class of 2010. As with Carling, there really isn’t much debate as to their place in the series thus far. Sara has been on her competitors’ radar screens since the start. Only this week has Sara been in any sort of danger of elimination. Carling’s thought of “sending” Sara with the “Save/Send” card had everything to do with performance, not personal differences (see: “bench dispute” two weeks ago).

Lili hasn’t had quite as smooth a ride as Sara to this point, but along the way, she may have proved herself to be one of the best pressure players still in the game. She’s survived 3 Elimination Challenges, all of them without much incident (except for an errant tee ball last week which made that much more interesting than it should have). As evidenced in this week’s episode, if Lili can stay in the present, she’ll be one of the toughest to beat.

So the question still remains: Is this final four deserving? To answer this, I will use the example of the most well-known “Final Four” in all the land: The NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four.

Rarely ever do you see a Final Four that is made up of the four best teams in the country. You normally see a few of the frontrunners with another team that made a bit of a surprise run through the tourney. Sure, the better teams are always given the advantage through seeding and matchups, but one bad game can instantly mean elimination. It’s the nature of the tournament and one of the reasons why it’s so great.

Now, take the format of Big Break into account. The nature of the competition has consistently lent itself to some incredibly unexpected outcomes over the past 13 seasons. Just the sheer nature of how the competition is set up makes pretty much anything possible. Sure there are twists and turns and a certain subjectivity that comes with the “reality” component of the competition, but ultimately it has always come down to performance. One bad week and you’re eliminated.

So, do Carling, Taryn, Sara and Lili deserve to make up the final four? Of course they do, every single one of them. Through all the challenges, the drama and the saving/sending (ok, so the “send” option never was taken advantage of), they’ve managed to navigate themselves thru the pitfalls of this incredibly grueling competition, and if that’s not deserving enough, then I don’t know what is.

After Further Review: Woods wisely keeping things in perspective

Each week, GolfChannel.com takes a look back at the week in golf. Here's what's weighing on our writers' minds.

On Tiger Woods' career comeback ...

Tiger Woods seems to be the only one keeping his comeback in the proper perspective. Asked after his tie for fifth at Bay Hill whether he could ever have envisioned his game being in this shape heading into Augusta, he replied: “If you would have given me this opportunity in December and January, I would have taken it in a heartbeat.” He’s healthy. He’s been in contention. He’s had two realistic chances to win. There’s no box unchecked as he heads to the Masters, and no one, especially not Woods, could have seen that coming a few months ago. – Ryan Lavner

On Tiger carrying momentum into API, Masters ...

Expect Jordan Spieth to leave Austin with the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play trophy next week.

After all, Spieth is seemingly the only top-ranked player who has yet to lift some hardware in the early part of 2018. Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas have all gotten it done, as have Jason Day, Phil Mickelson and most recently Rory McIlroy.

Throw in the sudden resurgence of Tiger Woods, and with two more weeks until the Masters there seem to be more azalea-laden storylines than ever before.

A Spieth victory in Austin would certainly add fuel to that fire, but even if he comes up short the 2015 champ will certainly be a focus of attention in a few short weeks when the golf world descends upon Magnolia Lane with no shortage of players able to point to a recent victory as proof that they’re in prime position to don a green jacket. – Will Gray

Davies not giving up on win, HOF after close call

PHOENIX – Laura Davies knows the odds are long now, but she won’t let go of that dream of making the LPGA Hall of Fame.

At 54, she was emboldened by her weekend run at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup. She tied for second, five shots behind Inbee Park.

“The more I get up there, I might have a chance of winning again,” Davies said. “I'm not saying I will ever win, but today was close. Maybe one day I can go closer.”

Davies is a World Golf Hall of Famer, but she has been sitting just outside the qualification standard needed to get into the LPGA Hall of Fame for a long time. She needs 27 points, but she has been stuck on 25 since her last victory in 2001. A regular tour title is worth one point, a major championship is worth two points.

Over her career, she has won 20 LPGA titles, four of them major championships. She was the tour’s Rolex Player of the Year in 1996. She probably would have locked up Hall of Fame status if she hadn’t been so loyal to the Ladies European Tour, where she won 45 titles.

Though Davies didn’t win Sunday in Phoenix, there was more than consolation in her run into contention.

Davies impresses, but there's no catching Park

It was a fitting script for the Bank of Hope Founders Cup on Sunday, where nostalgia stirs the desert air in such a special way.

Two of the game’s all-time best, LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park and World Golf Hall of Famer Laura Davies, put on a show with the tour’s three living founders applauding them in the end.

Park and Davies made an event all about honoring the tour’s past while investing in its future something to savor in the moment. Founders Marilynn Smith, Shirley Spork and Marlene Hagge Vossler cheered them both.

For Park, there was meaningful affirmation in her 19th LPGA title.

In seven months away from the LPGA, healing up a bad back, Park confessed she wondered if she should retire. This was just her second start back. She won feeling no lingering effects from her injury.

“I was trying to figure out if I was still good enough to win,” Park said of her long break back home in South Korea. “This proved to me I can win and play some pain-free golf.”

At 54, Davies kept peeling away the years Sunday, one sweet swing after another. She did so after shaking some serious nerves hitting her first tee shot.

Davies has won 45 Ladies European Tour events and 20 LPGA titles, but she was almost 17 years removed from her last LPGA title. Still, she reached back to those times when she used to rule the game and chipped in for eagle at the second hole to steady herself.

“It calmed me down, and I really enjoyed the day,” Davies said.

With birdies at the ninth and 10th holes, Davies pulled from three shots down at day’s start to within one of Park, sending a buzz through all the fans who came out to root for the popular Englishwoman.

“People were loving it,” said Tanya Paterson, Davies’ caddie. “We kept hearing, `Laura, we love you.’ It was special for Laura, showing she can still compete.”

Davies relished giving all the young players today, who never saw how dominant she once was, some flashes from her great past.

“Yesterday, after I had that 63, a lot of the younger girls came up and said, `Oh, great playing today,”’ Davies said. “It was nice, I suppose, to have that. I still am a decent player, and I actually used to be really good at it. Maybe that did give them a glimpse into what it used to be like.”

She also relished showing certain fans something.

“Now, people might stop asking me when I'm going to retire,” she said.

Davies was the LPGA’s Rolex Player of the Year in 1996, when she won two of her four major championships. She was emboldened by the way she stood up to Sunday pressure again.

In the end, though, there was no catching Park, who continues to amaze with her ability to win coming back from long breaks after injuries.

Park, 29, comes back yet again looking like the player who reigned at world No. 1 for 92 weeks, won three consecutive major championships in 2013 and won the Olympic gold medal two years ago.

“The reason that I am competing and playing is because I want to win and because I want to contend in golf tournaments,” Park said.

After Davies and Marina Alex mounted runs to move within one shot, Park pulled away, closing ferociously. She made four birdies in a row starting at the 12th and won by five shots. Her famed putting stroke heated up, reminding today’s players how nobody can demoralize a field more with a flat stick.

“I just felt like nothing has dropped on the front nine,” Park said. “I was just thinking to myself, `They have to drop at some point.’ And they just started dropping, dropping, dropping.”

Yet again, Park showed her ability to win after long breaks.

In Rio de Janeiro two years ago, Park the Olympic gold medal in her first start back after missing two months because of a ligament injury in her left thumb. She took eight months off after Rio and came back to win the HSBC Women’s World Championship last year, in just her second start upon returning.

“I'm really happy to have a win early in the season,” Park said. “That just takes so much pressure off me.”

And puts it on the rest of the tour if she takes her best form to the year’s first major at the ANA Inspiration in two weeks.